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Honesty Quotes

1.
If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes accepted as truth.
Joseph Goebbels

If a falsehood is repeated incessantly, it can become perceived as reality.
Authors on Honesty Quotes: William Shakespeare Ralph Waldo Emerson Thomas Jefferson Mark Twain Dalai Lama Benjamin Franklin Michel de Montaigne Mahatma Gandhi Abraham Lincoln George Bernard Shaw Ayn Rand Friedrich Nietzsche Robert Green Ingersoll Theodore Roosevelt George Washington Samuel Johnson H. L. Mencken Ernest Hemingway Wes Fesler Judith Martin Criss Jami Nelson Mandela Albert Camus Robert Burns Leo Tolstoy Henry David Thoreau Gordon B. Hinckley David A. Bednar Rush Limbaugh Walter Lippmann Vladimir Putin Marcus Tullius Cicero Michelle Obama
2.
Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.
William Faulkner

Never hesitate to speak up for candor and integrity and mercy against unfairness and misrepresentation and avarice. If citizens from all corners of the world...did this, it would revolutionize the planet.
3.
The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.
Fulton J. Sheen

4.
One great error is that we suppose mankind more honest than they are.
Alexander Hamilton

One great misconception is that we overestimate the honesty of people.
5.
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

'It is simple to gauge the moral character of a person based on how they act towards those who cannot benefit them in any way.'
6.
Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking.
Leo Tolstoy

7.
The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.
Baron de Montesquieu

The degradation of all governments begins with the erosion of the ideals upon which it was founded.
8.
I'm not a handsome guy, but I can give my hand to someone who needs help. Beauty is in the heart, not in the face.
Abdul Kalam

I am not physically attractive, but I will still extend my aid to anyone in need. Kindness lies within, not on the surface.
9.
Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth, nothing easier than flattery.
Fyodor Dostoevsky

Expressing truth is more difficult than offering flattery.
10.
The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed.
Ernest Hemingway

11.
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Winston Churchill

An untruth spreads far and wide before the truth has a chance to catch up.
12.
Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.
Mother Teresa

Uprightness and openness leave you exposed. Be truthful and candid all the same.
13.
Do the right thing because it is right.
Immanuel Kant

Act morally because it is just.
14.
Perfect health, sincerity, honesty, straightforwardness, courage, disinterestedness, unselfishness, patience, endurance, perseverance, peace, calm, self control are all things that are taught infinitely better by example than by beautiful speeches.
Sri Aurobindo

15.
Trust, honesty, humility, transparency and accountability are the building blocks of a positive reputation. Trust is the foundation of any relationship.
Mike Paul

Confidence, candor, meekness, openness and responsibility are the cornerstones of a sterling reputation. Confidence is the cornerstone of any association.
16.
The first basic need of a male is sexual fulfillment; for a female, affection. The second most basic need of a male is recreational companionship; for a female, communication and conversation. The third basic need of a male in a relationship is an attractive woman; for a woman, honesty and openness. The fourth basic need of a male is domestic support; for a female, financial support. The fifth basic need of a male is admiration and respect; for a woman, family commitment.
Myles Munroe

17.
Unless you're ashamed of yourself now and then, you're not honest
William Faulkner

Unless you feel humiliation at times, you're not being truthful.
18.
Young man: Be honest; train yourself for useful work; love God.
Milton S. Hershey

Encourage youth to be candid; cultivate proficiency in beneficial endeavors; revere the Divine.
19.
The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. "One word of truth outweighs the world.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

"One utterance of truth can eclipse the magnitude of falsehoods."
20.
My father had a very simple view of life: you don’t get anything for nothing. Everything has to be earned, through work, persistence and honesty. My father also had a deep charm, the gift of winning our trust. He was the kind of man with whom many people dream of spending an evening.
Grace Kelly

21.
Close friends are truly life's treasures.
Sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves.
With gentle honesty,
they are there to guide and support us,
to share our laughter and our tears.
Their presence reminds us that we are never really alone.
Vincent Van Gogh

22.
When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.
Audre Lorde

When we open our mouths, we may fear that our words will be disregarded or met with animosity. However, when we stay quiet, the apprehension remains. Thus, it is preferable to vocalize our thoughts.
23.
So, never be afraid. Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion, against injustice and lying and greed. If you, not just you in this room tonight, but in all the thousands of other rooms like this one about the world today and tomorrow and next week, will do this, not as a class or classes, but as individuals, men and women, you will change the earth.
William Faulkner

24.
When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - you may know that your society is doomed.
Ayn Rand

25.
Never underestimate the pain of a person, because in all honesty, everyone is struggling. some people are better at hiding it than others.
Will Smith

Do not discount the distress of someone, for in reality, everyone is facing hardships. Some individuals are adept at concealing it better than others.
26.
I'll tell you what the public likes more than anything, it's the most rare commodity in the world - honesty.
Merle Haggard

27.
Who lies for you will lie against you.
John Locke

'Those who deceive on your behalf will deceive against you.'
28.
We are all jellyfish, too pitiful and too afraid of being disliked to be honest.
May Sarton

We are all timid, too meek and too fearful of repudiation to be forthright.
29.
I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves. They didn't bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't.
Marilyn Monroe

30.
It's funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said 'do the best you can with these, they will have to do'. And mostly, against all odds, they do.
Anne Lamott

31.
Tzu Chang asked Confucius about jen. Confucius said, "If you can practice these five things with all the people, you can be called jen." Tzu Chang asked what they were. Confucius said, "Courtesy, generosity, honesty, persistence, and kindness. If you are courteous, you will not be disrespected; if you are generous, you will gain everything. If you are honest, people will rely on you. If you are persistent you will get results. If you are kind, you can employ people.
Confucius

32.
Honesty with ourselves & others gets us sober, but it is tolerance that keeps us that way.
Bill W.

'Integrity in our relationships & with ourselves is a crucial factor in achieving sobriety, but it is forbearance that maintains it.'
33.
Honesty has a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about it. No ulterior motives. No hidden meanings. An absence of hypocrisy, duplicity, political games, and verbal superficiality. As honesty and real integrity characterize our lives, there will be no need to manipulate others.
Charles R. Swindoll

34.
Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your reputation. Be not apt to relate news, if you know not the truth thereof. Speak no evil of the absent, for it is unjust. Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promise. There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth, and pursue it steadily. Nothing but harmony, honesty, industry and frugality are necessary to make us a great and happy nation.
George Washington

35.
Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.
Thomas A. Edison

'Non-harmfulness is the ultimate morality, aimed for in all progress. Until we cease to inflict pain on other creatures, our state of being remains primitive.'
36.
Sometimes in this life, under the stress of an exceptional emotion, people do say what they think.
Marcel Proust

At times in existence, when faced with a powerful sentiment, individuals express their genuine beliefs.
37.
Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.
Sophocles

Rather perish with dignity than achieve victory through deceit.
38.
Teach the youth to speak the truth, show them what peace can do
Rakim

Encourage the young to be honest, demonstrate what tranquility can accomplish.
39.
I went in search of a bad person; I found none as I, seeing myself, found me the worst.
Kabir

I traversed to uncover an evil individual; I came across none as I, upon reflection, concluded myself to be the most ghastly.
40.
Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.
Paulo Freire

Abstaining from the dispute between those in authority and those without means to align oneself with the powerful, not to stay impartial.
41.
If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.
Marcus Aurelius

"If it is not just, abstain; if it is not accurate, don't utter it."
42.
The challenge today is to convince people of the value of truth, honesty, compassion and a concern for others.
Dalai Lama

The task at hand is to persuade individuals of the worth of sincerity, integrity, kindness and solicitude for others.
43.
The greatest truth is honesty, and the greatest falsehood is dishonesty.
Abu Bakr

The most fundamental truth is integrity, and the greatest lie is untruthfulness.
44.
Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.
Dalai Lama

As a single grain of sand can create an infinite number of ripples in a pond, the consequences of individual behaviour can be far-reaching.
45.
The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.
Napoleon Bonaparte

46.
The most important thing in business is honesty, integrity, hard work familynever forgetting where we came from.
Frank Lucas

47.
All I want is the same thing you want. To have a nation with a government that is as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people.
Jimmy Carter

48.
How can anyone expect to be understood unless he presents his thoughts with complete honesty? This situation is unfair because it asks too much of the world. In effect, we say, ' I don't dare show you what I am because I don't trust you for a minute but please love me anyway because I so need you to. And, of course, if you don't love me anyway, you're a dirty dog, just as I suspected, so I was right in the first place.' Yet, every time God's children have thrown away fear in pursuit of honesty-trying to communicate themselves, understood or not, miracles have happened.
Duke Ellington

49.
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
Frederick Douglass

50.
The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.
Laura Ingalls Wilder